News Report
11 November 2019 Local
1. Duterte to attend ASEAN-ROK Summit in Busan
The Philippine Star, 11 November 2019, p. 1, continued on p. 10
President Rodrigo Duterte is pushing through with his trip to South Korea this month to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit, according to Malacañang. The summit will be held in Busan from Nov. 25 to 26 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the dialogue partnership between the regional bloc and South Korea.
2. ‘Planned joint oil, gas exploration more favorable to China’
The Philippine Star, 11 November 2019, p. B1, continued on p. B4
The planned joint oil and gas exploration between Manila and Beijing in the West Philippine Sea is more advantageous to China, according to RAND Corp., an influential defense think tank. The think tank’s defense analyst Derek Grossman said in a meeting with visiting Filipino journalists that the planned joint activity would not work due to sovereign issues.
Korea - Economic
3. DA, World Bank in talks for $500-M funding The Manila Times, 11 November 2019, p. B2
The Department of Agriculture (DA) has received commitment from the World Bank (WB) to finance four proposed projects aimed at enhancing agri-fishery extension systems, providing livelihood assistance to fisherfolk and indigenous peoples, and updating the national farmers’ registry system.
4. PH seriously considering safeguard duty on imported cars Manila Bulletin, 11 November 2019, p. B1
The Philippine government is seriously evaluating the possibility of slapping safeguard duty on automobile imports in light of the surge in the importation of completely built-up (CBU) cars, which have caused injury to the domestic industry, and to protect of what is left of the local car
manufacturing in the country.
These imported brand new CBU packs are mostly under HS Code 8703, or a tariff line for passenger cars. Major sources of imported CBUs are Thailand, Indonesia, Korea, Japan, India, US, China, Germany, Belgium, Malaysia, among others.
5. Pernia: Q4 could see 6.5-7% GDP growth Business World, 11 November 2019, p. S1/1
The Philippine economy stands a fair chance of hitting the lower end of the government’s 6-7%
gross domestic product (GDP) growth target for this year, according to Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia’s projection for this quarter.
